Parts of doomed Orbital Sciences rocket made in Phoenix area
The unmanned cargo rocket that exploded shortly after launch in Virginia on Tuesday was partly designed, manufactured and tested in Chandler.
Final assembly of Orbital Sciences Corp.'s ill-fated Antares rocket happened in Virginia, and the extent of the Arizona team's involvement was not immediately clear. It was the third time since 2009 that a flight involving Orbital Sciences ended in ashes.
No one was injured in the explosion, though it was a clear setback for the International Space Station, which was expecting a delivery of supplies, and another meltdown for Orbital Sciences' equipment.
After the accident, the company's stock plummeted in after-hours trading.
The company initially described the mishap as "a vehicle anomaly" on its Twitter feed. Later, in a news release, Orbital Sciences said that the flight vehicle had "suffered a catastrophic failure."
"It is far too early to know the details of what happened," said Frank Culbertson, Orbital's executive vice president and general manager of its Advanced Programs Group. "As we begin to gather information, our primary concern lies with the ongoing safety and security of those involved in our response and recovery operations.
"We will conduct a thorough investigation immediately to determine the cause of this failure and what steps can be taken to avoid a repeat of this incident. As soon as we understand the cause, we will begin the necessary work to return to flight to support our customers and the nation's space program."
The incident occurred on Wallops Island, Va. According to NASA, there were no injuries, but the space agency's launch facilities were damaged.
Work on the Antares rocket is divided between Dulles, Va., and Chandler, according to Orbital Sciences.
It was part of a $1.9 billion contract with NASA for delivery of supplies to the space station over a series of eight launches. The Antares rocket was billed as providing "low-cost, reliable access to space for medium-class payloads."
Orbital previously launched three rockets with attached cargo ships under its NASA contract, according to Fortune. NASA also has a similar contract with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Tuesday's flight involved Orbital's Antares rocket and Cygnus, the company's advanced-maneuvering spacecraft.
The company's stock tumbled more than 15 percent in after-hours trading, reflecting investor reaction to the accident. Orbital recently had announced gains in its quarterly earnings and had planned a merger with Alliant Techsystems Inc. The merger vote was scheduled for Dec. 9, but the Wall Street Journal noted earlier this month that the vote was going to be delayed until January.
On its Twitter account, Alliant cheered the approaching launch of the Antares rocket Tuesday, but made no mention of the matter after the accident.
The wreckage was cordoned off because the National Transportation Safety Board was considering its own investigation, according to the Journal.
In February 2009, a solid-fuel launch vehicle manufactured by Orbital known as the Taurus XL failed to separate from its payload, pulling the intended orbiting carbon observatory down with it. It was a $270 million loss.
In March 2011, the same type of rocket failed to launch a climate-change-monitoring satellite for NASA, another $424 million loss.
At the time, Barron Beneski, a spokesman for the company, acknowledged, "We were crushed.
"It's not up to our standards, and we really haven't experienced a back-to-back failure like that in a very long time, if ever. But I think everybody is an adult about it in that space is tough and these things do happen."